The origins of the Publica can be traced to the "national car" concept of the powerful Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), which was announced in 1955.

Although Eiji Toyoda was initially keen to take advantage of the, at that time innovative, FF concept (front-mounted engine with front-wheel drive), it proved technically too complicated for Toyota engineers to be able to complete within the allotted time, so the decision was made to switch to more conventional FR layout.

The Publica was inspired by the successful Citroën 2CV which also used a 2-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed engine, with front-wheel drive.

In spite of the fact that the government sources announced that significant tax breaks would be made for cars with engine displacements of less than 500 cc, Toyota decided that such a small engine would provide insufficient power on the highways, and increased the planned displacement to 700 cc.

The new car was given a two-door sedan body, which was intended to accommodate four people and a significant amount of luggage in the trunk, thus fulfilling the projected expectations of the customers.

This limited its appeal to the consumers, who perceived the automobile as an aspirational good and expected it to exude a more luxurious impression.

[4] In 1962, a two-door "light van" version was added, essentially a station wagon but classified as a commercial vehicle in Japan.

In 1963 Toyota added a new Deluxe trim level, denoted internally as "type UP10D", which featured such "luxuries" as reclining seats, a heater, radio, as well as some chrome decors (the original model was now called Standard).

In February 1964, a coupe utility (pickup) model joined the lineup, and in September the engine got a power boost to 32 PS (24 kW), while the Deluxe trim level was also made available for the wagon version.

In March 1968 the production of the Publica Van version was moved to Hino Motors, after that company was taken over by Toyota.

[9] The situation in the Japanese market changed, as demand developed rapidly, partially fuelled by the post-WWII baby boomers coming of age and gaining their driver's licenses.

[11] The U-engine model was dropped at this time, as the boxer unit could not clear emission standards anymore.

The Van (sometimes referred to as a Utility Wagon by Toyota) was built until June 1979, while the Publica pickup was not withdrawn until August 1988.

Branded as the Toyota 1000, the car was launched on the West German market, at the time Europe's largest national auto-market, in the fourth quarter of 1974.

The Timangi could no longer benefit from a variety of tax breaks for commercial vehicles and sales ended immediately, after 18 months and about 2,000 cars sold.